Furry Canary

Reply to Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics in Current Events JoeUser Forums

'I am not moaning about the outsourcing. If you read that, you read wrong. I am lamenting the lying. I have been laid off twice now. I do not fear it. I do not like being lied to tho, and that is what is demoralizing most. Not the act, the lying. Best read it again.' Okay then. 'The Commonwealth will recover from this. But it will take a long time, and the expense that it will cause due to turnover and training will far exceed any meager

Reply to Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics in Current Events JoeUser Forums

'This is not about outsourcing per se. It is about lying.' Maybe so. Nevertheless, your prediction for the the consequences of this move certainly doesn't tie in with your usual political philosophy: 'The Commonwealth will recover from this. But it will take a long time, and the expense that it will cause due to turnover and training will far exceed any meager cost savings that the governor can cook the books for.' I'

Reply to Draginol: Might I suggest why your bored with Politics? in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

'Can you think of any famous female philosophers? I think women tend to dwell more on the immediately relevant rather than the bigger picture or the more abstract' You remind me of an old joke ... Within [heterosexual] couples, it is usually the man who makes the important decisions - what political system is best, who should run the country, what the tax rate ought to be etc. This leaves the woman to make all the unimportant decisions - where

Reply to You too can be admired like Patagonia and Body Shop are in Business JoeUser Forums

'EcoLogic; meaning a deep and sincere respect for the environment.' Or perhaps meaning a deep and sincere suspicion that claiming concern for the ecology might just corner them the custom of the affluent and ever-growing eco-sensitive demographic. They don't want to be ADMIRED, they want to be SUCCESSFUL. Call me cynical if you like, but these people are in business first, last and always to make money. Compare with ('United Colours of ...') Benet

Reply to Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics in Current Events JoeUser Forums

'It is a given that most state employees earn a lot less than their private sector counterparts. And they do so for 2 key reasons. Retirement (it is a sweet deal) and Job Security (the States are not going anywhere).' In my experience, there is a third reason, which is very common among IT professionals - they work in the government sector in order to acquire the training, skills and experience they need to market themselves to private companies,

Reply to Only 65 Sniveling Days Til Xmas in Politics JoeUser Forums

'a symbol that dates back to the time when jesus' own shepherd's crook was transformed into a delicious confection on that cold night in bethlehem into which he was born' Nice blog, and this line creases me!

Reply to The World's Shortest And Best Fairy Tale in Humor JoeUser Forums

'The girl said, "NO!" And the guy lived happily ever after and went golfing, fishing and played softball and drank beer whenever he wanted.' There is a great deal of research to suggest that you should really add another line to your story: 'And he died several years younger than all his married friends'. But I guess it IS a fairy tale ...

Reply to To those who are Anti-Psychic,etc... #2 in Misc JoeUser Forums

'but my main point is whether or not the future is constantly in motion' How can a time that hasn't happened yet be doing anything in the present tense, let alone be doing anything CONSTANTLY (i.e. over time)? This is one of those gravitas-laden pseudo-scientific statements that might sound very convincing but starts falling to pieces the instant you try to establish what - if anything - it actually means. 'Not that I want to sound rude

Reply to To those who are Anti-Psychic,etc... #2 in Misc JoeUser Forums

'Exactly as the title says, i am asking you, fellow Jousers, do you believe in such thing as having "past lives"?' I am a skeptic. I am - in theory - open to persuasion, but currently no. And before you tell me how uncanny this person's readings were, any persuasion will have to be scientific, NOT anecdotal.

Reply to A link between "Shaken Baby Syndrome" and Vaccinations? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

The following is not intended as a refutation of the article you published, Gideon. If anything, I just mean to suggest that we should beware of leaping to quick conclusions over the opinions of one or two people, no matter how learned. I certainly intend to investigate this further ... 'Wakefield et al. (1998)17 published a paper in the Lancet in which they reported on a consecutive series of children with chronic enterocolitis and regressi

Reply to Celebrities With Opinions in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

'I accused them of being RAC's, you accused the RAC's of being both on the left and the right...' Nonsense. I said they were celebrities with OPINIONS. I never mentioned anti-intellectualism. (As I said before, a piece of paper from a university does not necessarily in itself satisfy me that somebody's opinion deserves to be taken seriously.) Please don't put words into my mouth.

Reply to Celebrities With Opinions in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

'But as you pointed out, there are rabid anti-intellectual celebs on both sides of the aisle.' Rabid anti-intellectual celebs? I never said anything of the sort! 'If they are so smart, where are their higher degrees of scholarship?' I repeat - so where does that leave George W. Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard et al? Do YOU perchance have a PhD, singrdave?

Reply to Celebrities With Opinions in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

I agree with aspects of what you say, but it all sounds a little coy. I can't help thinking there's more to your blog than meets the eye ... 'Celebrities With Opinions' So are celebrities not entitled to opinions? I would say of course they are. Surely the point is that their opinions should not be assumed to be inherently any more valuable than those offered by anybody else. 'Where did Sharon Stone get her PhD?' Ah, so

Reply to Whoever said it never rains in Southern California... in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

'So he's saying it's something he's heard frequently, but you're giving him credit?' Point taken!

Reply to Errr!? Its What!? Unconstitutional!? Excuse me!? in Politics JoeUser Forums

'My main point is the fact that a judge had the gaul ...' What have you got against the French?

Reply to Whoever said it never rains in Southern California... in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

'Whoever said it never rains in Southern California...' Actually, it was Albert Hammond, and the full chorus went like this: 'Seems it never rain in Southern California / I've often heard that kind of talk before It never rains in California / But girl, don't they warn ya / It pours, man it pours.'

Reply to Draginol: Might I suggest why your bored with Politics? in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

'Oh, and I've read Richard Bach (all of them ,not just Jonathan Livingston Seagull) so I have the Existentialists covered in this conversation too.' Hey, and I've got an Andy Warhol coffee-table book ... I guess that makes me an expert on postmodernism! 'Yes, my Husband, who has a PhD in Political Philosphy, (His doctoral thesis was on Eric Voegelin) and also taught the subjec

Reply to Don't hide behind your blog. in Misc JoeUser Forums

'Let the dead dogs die' Er, you can't - they're already dead. I think you mean 'Let sleeping dogs lie'.

Reply to ------------ in Misc JoeUser Forums

'Do they realize that I myself live under the "poverty line". That i am, financially, the same as them. I know others who live in similar conditions. And I'M A WHITE MAN! .....WOW! GEE WIZ! Do I/WE Whine about it? Hell NO!' 'I go to try and find a job, to bring some money in. But, i can't get one. Why? I don't Fucking know.' Sounds like a whine to me, Lucas.

Reply to ------------ in Misc JoeUser Forums

'Capitalism sees only workers. Some more sucessful, others less so.' I think capitalism sees OWNERS too, Dr. Guy. Nice try though!

Reply to A History of liberalism in Politics JoeUser Forums

What on earth is a 'yabbo'?

Reply to Don't hide behind your blog. in Misc JoeUser Forums

'--And you dig up the past why?' 1) Because you're STILL attempting to deny it, not least by constantly changing your blog name. 2) Because those who refuse to acknowledge history have a habit of turning into the likes of Pol Pot. 3) It goes to character, m'lud.

Reply to Don't hide behind your blog. in Misc JoeUser Forums

'to restate: changing identities is more fundamental than changing underwear.' Point taken. 'elindelwolf' has a history of doing more than just creative contextualising though; e.g. he has previously claimed bogus qualifications for himself in order to have other bloggers take him more seriously than they do. To me, this is less a postmodern dynamic identity than out-and-out telling porkies. And for someone with that self-confessed record to a

Reply to Actors and Actresses that never made it big. in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

'him I never heard of.' I heard David Thewliss interviewed once about his Hollywood experiences. During the interview, he said - very much tongue in cheek, I believe - that the Hollywood part he was most proud of was playing the voice of the earthworm in 'James and the Giant Peach'! Other parts in films / TV that you might know him from would include 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' (Professor Lupin), 'Dinotopia' (Cyrus Crab

Reply to Do mine eyes deceive me??? in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

'What? No spelling mistakes?' No - with you and Lucas, it's just no challenge any more.